Toronto Police make arrest in 25-year-old murder case

A man who found his mother’s murdered body when he was just six-years-old is finally getting some answers a quarter-century later.

Barbara Brodkin, 41, was found, by her son, stabbed in the chest Friday morning in March 1993.

The young boy called 911, but it was too late to save his mother’s life.

There were no answers until recently, and on Oct. 19, 63-year-old Charles Mustard has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder of Brodkin.

"Now, 25 years later, the boy who found his mother murdered in their apartment can have some answers," said Det. Sgt. Stacy Gallant. "Although there will be a process for this case to work its way through the justice system, at the very least he can know that we never gave up."

Brodkin, who worked various jobs as a secretary and typist while raising her son as a single mother, reportedly knew Mustard, who was 37 in 1993.

Gallant says that DNA evidence let to a break in the case, which allowed police to identify and investigate Mustard.

He also noted that the first responding officer back in March 1993, “a young constable named Rob Thomas,” is still involved and connected with the case.

"Twenty−five years later, this same officer, now Det. Rob Thomas, the lead polygraph officer in Toronto, once again became part of this investigative team," Gallant said.

"He prepared for and became the lead interview officer on the team responsible for conducting the interview of the now−accused."

As they build their case, police are still hoping to people who knew both Mustard and Brodkin at the time of the alleged murder, particularly two people named Dirk and Linda.